ERP Consulting 2010: Future Business Model And Alternatives

Analyzing Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains consulting in the Clinton era, then in recession time 2000-2003 and now, at the post-recession, we would like to give certain prognoses for the next five years. This might be attributable to the whole industry: Oracle Financials, Accpac, MAS500, PeopleSoft, SAP for mid-size business and Microsoft Navision, Axapta and Solomon. We are talking about mid-size ERP systems implementation, customization, integration and support, which requires more than one independent consultant efforts – client needs Microsoft Business Solutions partner to implement the system. The most important changes in our opinion happened in the time of recession and these changes will reshape the industry in a few years. Right now we are experiencing the time of market redistribution. Let’s look at the processes:

Consulting Companies Consolidation. Great Plains Software was supporting small and tiny partners, down to one consultant – this was up to the moment when Microsoft purchased the company and formed Microsoft Great Plains Business Solutions, later on renamed into Microsoft Business Solutions. However the realities of recession-time cash flow forced small and mid-size Microsoft Business Solutions partner to merge with auditing firms. The opposite side of the coin is – large companies, serving mid-size and small businesses are pushing consulting and hidden implementation price up.

• Recession-time Expenses reduction CEO. Yes – corporate, mid-size and small clients launched the program of cost reduction. Recession inevitably pushed consulting rates down and the consolidation process leaded to the situation when clients could not afford the price level due to the weak budget or the believe in the price decrease.

• Consultants Layoffs. This is very prosaic process – but it is inevitable in the time of recession and lack of orders. Consultants, who were serving client in the booming time had to find another job, mostly in different industry, something like to become controllers for mid-size businesses (when former controller was laid off due to high pre-recession time salary). These historical layoffs however resulted in the nowadays shortage of experienced consultants, especially technical consultants: Great Plains Dexterity, VBA/Modifier, Integration Manager programmers and technical specs writers.

Predictions and Prognoses:

• Offshore is only part of the solution. The main reason in our opinion is reasonable conservatism from the side of potential clientele. There were so many malicious virus attacks from overseas and we do not simply trust somebody who is over there and never had a chance to shake our hands. The second reason – small to mid-size companies (who have conservative approach to trust somebody) might not have strong IT support and infrastructure to be served via remote desktop, VPN or web session.

• Established Partners with Offshore facilities. This is possible way, however we have certain skepticism here. The reason to our skepticism is – established partners have to command highest consulting rates due to high level of administrative and headquarters expenses, so the savings to the end client might not be substantial

• New Small Nationwide Partners. Due to the recession, there were cases when minor partners had to leave mid-size consulting companies and form new companies on their own, believing in their expertise and the new way of partnering with offshore programming groups. We believe that the future market will turn to these partners and new nation-wide practices.

Author: Andrew Karasev

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Software Outsourcing India Can Bring Rapid Growth to your Company

In today’s competitive world of business, every software company wants to make an outstanding position in the software outsourcing business. Since, the aspect of outsourcing came into being, more and more companies are tending towards this. Outsourcing your work is the part of information technology and also information technology enabled services. In fact, software outsourcing India is the most desired destination of outsourcing and this is because of the quality work done by the highly skilled Indian professionals. The outsourcing has proved advantageous for most of the software companies as their business has seen a huge run-up and became profitable, so this is also one of the reasons for its ever increasing popularity and huge demand.

Studies reveal that in software outsourcing, the cost of hiring professional is about five times less than that needed in European and American countries. The software outsourcing India provides quality work in less time and also at cheaper rates. Hence, in this way you are saving the revenue of your company. There are various factors on which you can outsource your work and hire professionals. You can also hire professionals on individual basis or also from the companies who are client oriented. Most of the companies around the globe prefer software outsourcing India to be its offshore destination for its projects. The complexity of the projects is the deciding factor for which you can think who is efficient to do your work.

Software outsourcing is not only the service provided by Indian companies, apart from this they also provide different types of businesses and knowledge. The widely accepted fame is due to the enormous talent pool that India has. United States is the major client of Indian IT companies and others are UK, Germany, France and many more. Even the world’s biggest software companies like Microsoft and Oracle are outsourcing their major work from India. A study says that more than forty percent of software development services and also information technology enabled services is outsourced from India. The companies are grounded firmly on the basics of trust, teamwork and use of latest technology in providing quality service to its client. The cost savings is the main reason behind outsourcing your work and further the company can invest those saved money on the growth and expansion plans.

There are various factors to consider before you hand over your entire project to an offshore destination. You must look for the knowledge pool that the vendor has about the industry vertical on which your project depends. If the vendor is skilled then only offer the project to him. You should also look for the track record of the vendor as to know in what fields they specialize. Their specialization is also important for you to consider as it will help you to relieve on their services offered. Many software companies are working towards quality certifications that will help them to give an outstanding position among its competitors. ISO certification or SEI CMM level certification should be considered when you are looking for an offshore vendor. The outsourcing services needs a good infrastructure and sufficient back-up to over come any kind of problem. The vendor’s experience in this field matters as it shows how efficient they are to handle your work.

Author: Allies Harbor

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Higher Education Institutions Improve Efficiency and Enhance Service with Oracle® Applications and Technology

Redwood Shores, CA 26-MAR-2007 08:08 PM

Oracle today announced that more than 17 leading U.S. colleges and universities recently purchased or implemented Oracle(r) applications and technology to help improve operational efficiency and enhance service to key constituents, including students, faculty, staff and alumni. These institutions are transforming their campuses by consolidating and protecting essential data, advancing efforts to recruit and retain students and adding timesaving self-service features.

"Oracle is committed to helping higher education institutions meet efficiency and accountability requirements, as well as constituent demands for high quality technology and superior service," said Oracle Higher Education Vice President Jim McGlothlin. "We are working with institutions of all sizes to improve the business of education."

University of Central Florida Upgrades Financials to Manage Growth

The University of Central Florida (UCF), the seventh largest university in the country, implemented Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise Financial Management using Oracle infrastructure to build a more flexible financial management platform. The university, which has a complex financial system and a budget of $817.5 million for 21 campuses, worked with Oracle to implement the new financial system and become one of the first universities to devolve from the state's legacy system.

UCF used the PeopleSoft system to streamline requisition and purchase order processes, enhance purchasing card and vendor tracking information, increase reporting capabilities, reduce costs, eliminate unnecessary paper trails and minimize redundant procedures. With PeopleSoft's Web capabilities, UCF centralized system management while localizing access, allowing individual departments and employees to create online reports and freeing IT staff to focus on other activities. UCF also integrated its financial and supply chain management systems with PeopleSoft Enterprise applications for human capital management and campus solutions, further enhancing efficiency and improving constituent service.

"One of our five strategic goals, established by our president, is to become America's leading partnership organization. To that end, we are pleased to partner with Oracle by joining its Early Success Program, allowing us to accelerate our product upgrades to further improve the university's business systems," said Rebecca Vilsack, associate controller, UCF.

Kentucky Community and Technical College Systems Add Online Student Center

Kentucky Community and Technical College Systems (KCTCS), an Oracle customer for several years, recently upgraded to Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise Campus Solutions 8.9 to gain new functionality for an online student center. With Campus Solutions, KCTCS offers students convenient, "one stop shopping" online, allowing them to log on and easily view financial aid information, check application status, pay bills, add or drop classes, update personal information and review degree progress information. Campus Solutions' Web functionality was especially valuable to KCTCS because its system includes 16 colleges and 65 campuses statewide. The system provides a common look and feel, as well as a common set of information for all users, improving collaboration.

"Oracle PeopleSoft is hands-down the leader in higher education administrative software, and we have benefited greatly from its increased automation and self-service functionality," said Paul Czarapata, chief technology officer, KCTCS. "Campus Solutions, along with our PeopleSoft Enterprise Financial Management and Human Capital Management applications, help us meet and quickly adapt to the changing needs of our students, faculty and staff."

University of Virginia Gains Insight into Procurement

The University of Virginia (UVa), a public university with more than 20,000 students, implemented Oracle iProcurement, Oracle Procurement and Oracle Financials, along with SciQuest Spend Director, Order Manager and Settlement Manager to develop an electronic procurement system. The university completed the implementation campus-wide in just seven months, also extending the new system to College at Wise, a campus in southwestern Virginia that previously operated on a completely paper-based system. UVa has now enabled a critical mass of suppliers that provide up-to-date catalog data and streamline order management. With an integrated supplier base, the university's goal is to maximize on-contract spending and gain real-time visibility and reporting capabilities throughout the entire order process.

"We have been able to integrate Oracle iProcurement and SciQuest to facilitate increased efficiency and enhanced insight that will save us money and allow us to operate more effectively, said Virginia Evans, assistant vice president for integrated system deployment and support, UVa.

Oracle's Higher Education Community Continues to Expand

Other U.S.-based higher education institutions that have recently selected, implemented or upgraded Oracle technology or applications include: Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass.; California State University, Fullerton, Fullerton, Calif.; California State University Sacramento, Sacramento, Calif.; Career Education Corporation, Hoffman Estates, Ill.; University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo.; DePaul University, Chicago, Ill.; Rhema Bible College, Tulsa, Okla.; San Francisco State University, San Francisco, Calif.; San Jose State University, San Jose, Calif.; University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.; University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minn.; University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas; Virginia Community College System, Richmond, Va.; and Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Mich.

About Oracle

Oracle (NASDAQ GS: ORCL) is the world's largest enterprise software company. For more information about Oracle, visit our Web site at www.oracle.com.

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